House Hunting and Other Extreme Sports
by JacMaxKatniss
Summary: This is what would happen if, in the third book, instead of going to Dr. M's house, Max and Fang continued to look for a house and find one. Fax and maybe Eggy later, if I make it a full story. T because K  sounds stupid.
1. I Hate House Hunting With Fang

**A/N**

**Hey everyone, this is my first fanfic ever, so be kind. I'm putting this at K+, but I might change it to T later. There's going to be no cursing, other than crap, freaking, and of course, the infamous Holy [insert curse word of choice] There's going to be Fax(of course) and I want to incorporate Eggy, but since they won't know Ella(besides Max), that might be hard XD Basically, what happened was Fang and Max are looking for a house while the rest of the flock are in a cave, and then Fang kisses Max in a cave(sounding familiar?) and then they go to Ella's house. Well, instead of going to Ella's, I'm having them STILL going house hunting. But they might go to Ella's eventually….. Oh, and this is in the third book, so no Dylan, and Fax is slow. Also, they all have all their powers, EXCEPT for Angel's weird shape shifting thing(what was JP thinking?) Might be a one shot, depending on how you guys like it. Sorry for the long A/N!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own any rights to characters, some setting, and some plot elements in this story. If I did, I wouldn't be on FanFiction, I'd be on MyFiction.**

Chapter 1: I Hate House Hunting (with Fang)

**MAX POV**

Fang and I were still not talking. What did I expect, though? He kissed me and I ran away, nothing is more awkward than that. Unfortunately, he was still adamant about finding somewhere to settle down, and since I didn't want him to be mad, I agreed to go along with the plan. Which brings us to where we were now; flying above the middle of nowhere.

Suddenly, Fang decided to turn right, without giving me a warning. Did I mention_ I'm_ to his right? Fun, huh, to have a heavy bird kid (or at least heavier than me) barrel into you while you're flying at above ninety miles per hour.

"Fang," I groaned, trying to regain my balance, "why did you do that?" Instead of apologizing, or even coming back with a sarcastic remark, he grunted, and then pointed to a random black streak that smeared the otherwise barren landscape **(They're in Arizona). **Right, Fang's wasn't going to talk me. Oh, how he knows how to annoy me. I bet he even has a list.

"Great, you're not blind. Can we please go back to the others, now?" **Horrible** comeback, I know, but I hate house hunting, and if Fang doesn't start talking, I'm seriously going to hurt him.

"It's a town, and the others are fine, Iggy has everything under control." Pfft, how was that supposed to convince me? Iggy's the _blind _pyromaniac. Fang looks ticked off, but I doubt it has anything to do with the current situation. I squinted my eyes and stare at the black smudge.

"I don't see it, are you sure you're not making this up?" I think that's a perfectly reasonable question, but not Fang. No, instead of answering like a normal mutant bird freak, he spread his wings out further and streaked by, ruffling my baggy clothes a little in the process. And I was supposedly the one with super speed.

I guess I didn't have much of a choice except to follow him, so I did, turning on my turbo speed on the way. There is no way Fang's going to out fly me. I passed him easily, even going as far as to wiggle my fingers tauntingly at him. The flying was easy, sure, but landing was a little more difficult. I tried to land on my feet, my knees decided to lock and I ended up sprawled in dead grass. Note: Dead grass can be somewhat (read: extremely) painful. Seriously.

"Ouch," I wince, but that's not the worst part. I rolled over onto my back just in time to see a mistakenly Goth bird hurtling toward the earth, and more specifically, me. Us bird kids are extremely fast, and have super human reflexes (super bird ones too), yet I didn't move fast enough to escape Fang falling on me. Oh, and if you don't think having your best friend, who kissed you, and is mad at you fall on top of you is a bad thing, skip this next part. You won't be able to sympathize.

I stared at him in shock for a little bit, and let me tell you, his eyes were intimidating, even to _me_. Fang's black bangs hung down and tickled my forehead, but he made no movement to get up. Instead, he leaned down to kiss me, and I almost_ (almost) _wanted him to. When his lips are only a millimeter away from mine, I close my eyes and slightly part my lips.

What a perfect romantic moment, right? Ha to the no. He doesn't kiss me, no, he just leans down and puts his soft lips to my ear. No, I didn't say his lips were soft and gorgeous. No….

"I think I found our house," he whispers. Quietly, he gets off of me and I look at "our house", as Fang would put it. It must have been pretty nice at some point, considering it was three stories tall with a tower like thingy. But, the house was horribly dilapidated, windows were broken and shingles littered the yard. I'd bet Gazzy's and Iggy's bomb supply (the one I wasn't supposed to know about) that someone hadn't lived in it for at least 10 years. It was well secluded though, having a big hill separating it from what I assumed was a town. It was perfect.

For a second I paused, remembering what Fang had said. Did "our house" mean me and fang's house, or the flocks? I blushed profusely at the thought, and Fang's interpretation of it wasn't too off.

"You thought I was going to kiss you, didn't you?" In response I sighed. Boy did I hate house hunting (with Fang).

**Hope you liked it! The verbs change tenses a couple times because Max is narrating, but at the same time she thinking in the present while she's narrating the past. Make sense? Review! I don't care if they're mean, but please tell me WHY you don't like it so I can improve!**


	2. Next Time, Total's Babysitting

**Who said manipulation doesn't work? Thank guys soooo much for reviewing and sorry for taking so long to update. I've been sick and now I have tons of makeup work. On the bright side, I did well on my SAT's, so I don't have to worry about that until next year. Enjoy!**

I'm really having an off week. Let's recap, shall we? First, the flock decides that they'd rather have a home than save the world and fight bad guys. What's up with them? Next, Fang kisses me, out of the blue, and get this,_ I run away_. Finally, we find a house, _that I like_, and I'm embarrassed and proved wrong by Fang. Kill me _now_.

The house really was perfect, though. There was a little stream that ran behind the house in a clearing surrounded by trees and it provided a good water source. The hill in front of it was bigger than I had first thought, and the town was tiny enough to stay off of most maps. Fang really had picked well, although I'd never admit it. Now, I'd have to go tell the flock that I was wrong , and there really was a perfect home for six mutant runaways and their talking dog. They'd be ecstatic.

Fang I weren't talking, but it wasn't awkward. It felt like when we were younger and would slowly fly back after a big race over the canyon. Of course, I really do speak too soon, because Fang just had to ruin the moment by talking. "Max, we really need to talk," Wow, was Fang the Dark and Silent wanting to '_talk_'?"

"We _are_ talking," Obviously that wasn't what he meant, but me, and I don't 'talk'."

"Max," he lightly touched my arm, "I'm serious; we need to talk. We've known each other since we were in the extra small sized dog crates; if we can't talk to each other, we can't talk to anyone. We really need to talk about… stuff."

"Deep," I said sarcastically, rolling my eyes. He must have gotten the idea, because his next remark was much more satisfying.

"I just sound deep," he said shrugging. "Deep down, I'm actually quite shallow." That's what I wanted to hear. A sarcastic Fang makes the world a better place.

"But," he added, "this conversation is not over," Since when is he the leader? No, I call the shots around here. Or at least I used to..

**AT THE CAVE**

"Iggy, make us some food," Nudge groaned. "We haven't eaten since this morning, and if I don't get some food _right now_, I'm eating Total." Gazzy and Iggy had been working on a not so secret project towards the back of the cave. Instead of listening to me and taking care of my kids, he made a bomb and starved them. Last time I left him in charge.

"Pretty please with a cherry on top?" Angel blinked up and looked through her eyelashes at Iggy. The dreaded "eyes". Iggy was blind, of course, but when has that stopped Bambi eyes?"

Sighing, Iggy got up and walked to his back pack by the fire. After rummaging through it for a bit, he pulled out some cheap calorie filled oatmeal things and tossed them at Angel, Nudge, and Total. He, of course, saved the beef jerky for him and Gazzy.

"Hey!" Total yelled when the snack hit him.

At almost the same time, Angel whispered, "I wish Max and Fang were here."

"I heard that!" Iggy yelled and stalked over to the girls.

"Well, it's true! Max left you in charge, and all you've done is build illegal explosives!" exploded Nudge.

"Iggy…"

"Yah, I could do I better job than you're doing!" Angel stood up to her full height, up to Iggy's waist, and put her hands on her hips. The scowl on her face would have sent a grown man crying to his mother.

"Me too!" Total yelped oh so helpfully.

"Iggy…" Gazzy's voice was getting more urgent by the minute, but his voice was lost in the havoc.

"Ok, Ok. I might not be the best leader," Total snorted," but, Max left me in charge, so" he never got to finish, because at that moment, Gazzy screamed bloody murder.

"Iggy!" Gazzy sprinted to where the rest of the flock was, and looked up at Iggy with a mix of fear and embarrassment on his face.

"I'm kinda busy, Gaz," Iggy muttered. The Gasman stood on his tiptoes and whispered something into his ear. Immediately, Iggy froze.

"Fire in the hole!" he yelled and grabbed Total, motioning for the others to follow him. They flew out about a hundred feet before they heard the bomb explode. Next time, Total is babysitting.

**I contemplated stopping it here, but it would be too short…..**

"Fang, did you hear that?" I asked hesitantly. We were miles away from where the flock had been staying, and we were flying at a leisurely pace.

"No, are you sure you aren't making it up?" he smirked. Sometimes, I wonder if I should let the white coats sew his mouth together to stop him from smirking at me all the time.

"Yes, I'm sure I heard something," I sighed exasperatedly. It sounded like a rumbling of something big, and if we weren't so far away, I'd say it was the flocks. I did a quick 360 to make sure the Erasers hadn't risen from the dead. I noticed Fang doing the same.

"Well, if nothing's wrong, we should probably keep going," I suddenly realized I had been hovering in one place for several minutes. I couldn't explain it, but something felt _wrong_.

"Ok," I started, but I never got a chance to finish. Angel's unmistakable scream pierced the air. Without looking at each other, me and Fang were flying high speed towards the cave we had left them. Still, it might've been too late by the time we got there. If it was Erasers, then they'd be gone before we could get there.

I glanced over at Fang, noticing he still had a calm passive expression, for the most part. By looking at his eyes, I could sense his anger and determination. My best friend is_ beast_ (lil' mutant humor for ya there).

Surprisingly, we reached the flock within ten minutes, a new record for sure. When I saw the charred cave and Angel's crisped hair, I knew _exactly _what had happened.

"Iggy!" I screamed. He was_ so_ dead.

**So, how'd ya like it? I'm not going to have them have their powers after all, other than the norm. and Angel's mind control/reading and Gazzy intestinal talents + mimics. They may get them later on though. And Total doesn't have wings(yet) in this story. Keep reviewing, **_**please! **_**It takes like 2 seconds to write a simple "Great!" but it takes me a long time to write each chapter. Hopefully, I'll have the next chapter up by the 7th, but you need to review! **


	3. Yelling At Iggy and Breaking Hearts

**Hey guys, remember me? No? I don't blame you, since I haven't updated in…. 3 months? Sorry for that, but I really don't have any excuses, so here's the next chapter. I hope none of bludgeon me to death for waiting so long…**

**PREVIOUSLY:**

_Surprisingly, we reached the flock within ten minutes, a new record for sure. When I saw the charred cave and Angel's crisped hair, I knew exactly what had happened._

_"Iggy!" I screamed. He was _so_ dead._

" Iggy!" I screamed again. Iggy, Angel, Gazzy, Nudge, and Total all turned in the air to face me and Fang. I cursed under my breath when I saw their soot covered faces. Once again, the LAST time I left Iggy in charge. Angel's face brightened when she saw us, and she flew over to hug us. Well, me, since Fang wasn't much for hugs. I let go of Angel and flew closer to the rest of the flock. I breathed deeply before speaking(what, you didn't think I had self-control?) "Iggy Whatever-your-last-name-is, I leave you for what? Two days? And you blow up a cave in the process of almost killing the rest of the flock!" Iggy hung his head in shame, but I wasn't done. However, before I could finish yelling at Iggy, Nudge started talking. Surprise, surprise…

"Don't worry Max, we're fine, so like, no harm done, right? And we got all the bags and stuff out and we only got singed a little bit, so don't be mad at Iggy, or anyone, because you don't look very pretty when you're mad. But I bet Fang think you look pretty when you're mad, but then again he always thinks you look pretty so,"

"Nudge," I interrupted, "shut up."

**I AM A PAGE BREAK, HEAR MY ROAR! [insert roar of your choice]**

After I was through yelling at Iggy, we landed in a big grove area, the only one in miles. I looked at Fang, silently asking him if I should tell them about the house while the rest of the flock started picking trees to sleep in, knowing we'd be staying here for a little while. He nodded. Typical…

"Ok guys, listen up," they waited patiently, "Me and Fang found a house."

I never thought that four people and a talking dog could talk over each other at the exact same time. I hate it when I'm wrong.

"Like ZOMG! This is so exciting! We're gonna live in a real house and go to school and maybe even be," Dare she say it? "NORMAL!" Nudge squealed excitedly and then began talking even faster to herself. Iggy and Gazzy were talking rapidly about…. Sodium Nitrate? I'm not sure how that relates to a new house, and I'm not sure I want to find out.

"Do you like it, Max?" Angel looked up at me with her huge glistening blue eyes. I nodded, and Fand smirked at me. I shot him the bird.

Total ran around my legs in a large circle. "Does it have a yard?" He yelped.

"No Total, it's suspended by an imaginary force in the air. Much less conspicuous." He stiffs at me and walks away. Everyone's mindless chatter was starting to really annoy me.

"Guys," I start, "GUYS!" They promptly shut up. "we're going to stay here tonight and then get an early start in the morning. We should be there by tomorrow night." Truthfully, I know Fang and I could have been there in 4 or 5 hours, but with the others demanding food and rest every hour, we'd be hard pressed to make it by 6 or 7 at night.

I checked my watch, it was now 6 o' clock, AKA time for me to forgive Iggy and tell him to make me some food.

"Iggy, I'm," I trailed off. Apologizing wasn't that easy for me.

"Yes, Max?" he grinned, knowing what's coming next.

"Shut up and make some food," Although that kinda makes me sound like a horrible leader, the flock knows that's my equivalent of a sincere heart felt apologies, complete with flowers and kisses. I cringe, even the thought makes me nauseous.

Iggy went over and started up a fire. With what, I don't even ask, as long as my flock is warm and more or less filled with food I'm happy. Gazzy went over to help with the fire, and Angel grabbed Celeste in an attempt to wipe all of the ashes of her dress. Nudge announced she was going to change and exit's the clearing. I vaguely heard myself tell her not to wonder to far. I was too caught up on what to do with Fang. Now that everyone is occupied, I had no doubt he'll want to continue our little 'talk.'

"Max," he said in his deep clear voice. No 14 year should have _that_ voice. "I'm serious about talking,"

I laughed nervously, "Never thought I'd hear that from you," he just sighed and grabbed my elbow gently, leading me into a thicket of leafy trees. Once we're out of sight I heard Iggy yell.

"Now, now, kids, don't be gone for too long," he said in an imitation of… A protective mother? Yeah, something like that. We soon reached an area where Fang has deemed far enough to be private, but close enough to hear screaming. He sat down and lightly pulled me down too. I have to maneuver so that I don't land in his lap. That would be awkward, for sure.

"Max," I opened my mouth, "No, let me finish." My mouth shut with an awkward pop. "I'm sorry I, er, did that. I shouldn't have, I know that now, but we've known each other forever, literally, so Max, can't you just tell me if you don't feel this way? I can't stand not knowing and this awkwardness is killing me. Tell me you don't like me like that and all of this will be over. I promise, I _promise, _if you tell me no, I'll never act that way towards you ever again and we'll be completely professional, like we were when we were younger, but I have to know.

I looked at Fang, staring into his eyes. Although this might have been a bad time, I realized for the first time the exact shade of his eyes. They weren't the cliché obsidian, they had more feeling than a sharp piece of volcanic glass, and they weren't ebony, that color was too flat. No, his eyes were like two pieces of coal. Black, but with emotions behind them like fire, burning its way through. Every nerve ending and bone and organ and whatever else I was made up of was screaming for me to tell him that yes, I loved him, and yes, I always would and I couldn't live without him. Instead I just sat there looking into his mesmerizing eyes.

Apparently I waited too long, because in a moment he was up, eyes closed off so that even I couldn't read them. I tried to grab his arm to stop him, but he brushed me off and continued walking, going as far as picking up his pace, walking away in disgust from me.

"Fang," I tried to say, but it seemed strangled, and he ignored me completely. He was hurt. I hurt him. And that broke my heart.

**I am so mean. But since schools almost out for me, I will be writing a lot! And forget about the review chapter thing, its way too confusing. But please do review, because otherwise, I feel like a bad writer ****L Oh, and if you have ANY ideas for a cute/funny/faxy/dramatic scene(mostly when they're at the house) PLEASE tell me. Please!**


	4. My World Doesn't Revolve Around YOU!

**Sorry I didn't update sooner! I had to fix my bad hair cut, go on vacation, I got sick, and now my air conditioner is broken. So here's the next chapter! To be honest, this story took a big turn at the end of the last chapter. Honestly, I thought they would go into the woods and make out or something. But anyways….**

The tension was obvious when we reached the clearing. Fang brushed passed everyone, and went to where Iggy had made a plate of bacon and pancakes for us. For dinner. The flock was sitting in a semi-circle, starting with Iggy and ending with Nudge, who had changed into a "cute" night clothes outfit thing that was definitely not appropriate for the weather. And the fact we'd be sleeping in trees tonight. However, I didn't say anything, mostly because I didn't trust my voice to speak. Fang sat down next to Iggy and began eating, not looking at anyone. He was wrong, this might be "professional", but it sure wasn't how it used to be. I can't imagine how much he was hurting, literally, because he was more shut off than I'd ever seen him, and I've seen him shut off for almost 12 years.

Everyone ate in silence. Even Nudge has nothing to say, or was too afraid to say it. The tension hangs around us like.. Like really heavy tension. What can I say, I'm no poet.

Unfortunately, I was the one who eventually had to break the silence.

"We should probably get to bed, because um," I wavered when I saw Fang staring at me, his eyes literally boring holes into me. "We'll need to leave early tomorrow and we'll be flying all day." I put my fist in the middle of everyone, and everyone stacked them. I notice Fang takes care not to touch my hands.

"I'll take first watch," I continued, but Fang interrupted me.

"I can do it," he said bluntly, not at all like he's hurting, which is why I could tell he was. I nodded lamely, saying I would take the rest and turned towards the biggest tree. Nudge takes the one to my left, and Angel to my right. I notice Fang goes to the one farthest away from mine. Usually, we both sleep in the biggest tree, me on the higher big branch and him on the lower. It didn't feel right having him be so far away. Ignoring the thought, I laid my head down on the branch, making sure I wouldn't fall off. I close my eyes, and when I did, I heard Angel's voice in my head.

"Max, I think you and Fang should make up," she said sweetly. I sighed. She just didn't understand how difficult it was right now.

"Yes I do," she sounded offended at the though that she could not know something. "You know, he might understand, if you explained," No, no, he wouldn't understand, I couldn't take back everything that had happened.

"Angel, honey, I'm going to bed now. Good night," And so I fell asleep feeling like the cheesiest romantic sap in the world. Gosh, what is this world coming to?

**LINE BREAK! SORRY FOR UNINTENTIONAL OOC EVERYONE IN LOVE IS!**

I woke up feeling miserable, my head and heart aching. Opening my eyes, I saw that the reason I'd waken so early in the morning, was because Fang was shaking me awake. Still was, actually. I also realized he was barely even touching me. Not in a sweet, gentle way, but more of a sterile, you've-got-the-plague kind of way.

"I'm up, I'm up!" I groaned loudly, maybe a little too loudly. He looked at me for a long time and then turned and walked back to his tree.

"Your shift," he muttered emotionlessly.

I sat up, feeling more alert when I remembered we were still in danger, and my love life, as complicated as it was and is, was hardly a priority. I watched Fang climb into the tree and close his eyes, but I knew he wasn't sleeping . His body was tense and rigid, and I could see his jaw clenching. I sighed, trying not to feel sorry for myself by thinking of my responsibilities. Tommorrow, I thought to myself, I'd have to wake the others up early, or at least earlier than we have beeen recently, so that we could eat breakfast and be packed to go. I sighed again. Another day, and we'd be the Partridge family we weren't.

It didn't seem right for us to simply find a house and move into it, not with every complication we've had in the past couple of years. Freezing, I thought about all of the possible schemes Itex could be planning via Barbie's dream house. I mentally slapped myself repeatedly for being so stupid and not seeing this before.

Without thinking, I fluttered out of my tree and strode towards Fang. Midway, I stopped, remembering the reasons I didn't want to talk to Fang. So instead of being tortured with awkward dialogue, I walked over to Iggy and shook him awake. He looked at me through sleepy eyes and scowled comically.

"No Max, I will not cook bacon for you in the middle of the night." I rolled my eyes.

"I don't want bacon, but we need to talk," I said exasperated. He sat up and yawned, obviously not realizing the urgency of the conversation.

"Oh," he stated, "So this is about Fang."

"What?" I whisper-yelled , genuinely confused.

"Ok, so what you need-" Iggy continued, "Wait, you aren't here about Fang?" I was starting to get frustrated at this point.

"No Iggy, its about something important," I began.

"Glad to see how you feel about me, even if I'd rather you'd be direct," I heard Fang's unmistakable voice. I turned around quickly see him hovering slightly above the ground, arms crossed, looking as much like the Angel of Death as ever.

"Fang," I started, my voice on the edge of desperation, on the edge of begging. Oh, and heads up, _**I don't beg**_.

"Don't" he said calmly and then questioned, " What is so important then?" I stared him in the eyes and then looked away, realizing now was not the time to make things worse between us.

"It's the house," I said, not at all intimidated by Fang, "I think Itex is using it as a trap."

"Get over yourself, Max. Just because I'm right doesn't mean you have to-" I stopped listening after that, I felt like he'd slapped me. If anyone else said it, I wouldn't care, but Fang my best friend, second in command, and the guy I'd known before I knew myself. But before I could do something stupid, like hit him, I interrupted.

"Its not about that," I said.

He looked doubtful. "What is it about then?" He landed with a soft thud.

"It's about the flock's safety," I said, my voice rising. I took a small step towards Fang. He was not going to think he could scare me.

"Really? Because I think its for a different reason," said Fang. Meanwhile, Iggy was watching us go back and forth with wide eyes.

"Fang," I began softly, and then continued loudly, "Shut up. I've tried to explain to you several times, but since you obviously don't care to hear it, at least realize that I think the house is a trap because it doesn't make since that it would be easy for us to live there. It **isn't** about you. Believe it or not, my world doesn't revolve around **you**!"

Unfortunately, I may have screamed the last part and woken the rest of the flock up. They jumped out of their trees and were in fighting position in about 3 seconds. And to make matters worst, Fang really took what I said, or in this case yelled, to heart.

Now, if this was a soap opera, Fang and I would've been making out after that and then said some 'I love you' mumbo jumbo . But, since this obviously wasn't some sappy romance, Fang was more than a little upset. No, he was angry.

"Fine. You must be right, since you're the leader," he said very sarcastically, "So now what? Do we go play 'superhero's' again?" Everyone was staring at me. I assumed Angel filled Nudge, Gazzy, and Total what we were fighting about via mind-talk because they waited expectantly. Of course, not wanting to disapoint everyone without real facts, I shook my head, but took charge.

"No, we'll go to the house. But we'll be very careful, too. Everyone, get packed and we'll leave in ten. Got it?" Everyone nodded, even Fang. I sighed for what seemed the millionth time and went to get my backpack.

**Ok, how was that? And please be honest! I'm not sure how I feel about. I either really like or really don't. But I guess either way it was necessary. Review please! **

**Tell me what you like about this story(entire story or chapter) and what you don't(same) and I'll include your name in the next chapter! **


	5. Nurse Iggy and The Voice

**Hey guys! Sorry for the wait… I could list excuses, but I doubt you want to hear them…. I actually do not think this is my best, but it is my longest(over 2K). PLEASE KEEP IN MIND: I wrote this at 2 a.m. My brain may not have been working. Hopefully, Max and Fang aren't too OOC and you don't hate it. And if you do, be kind. At least I did write it…**

Flying is the most amazing experience ever. Of course, I can't exactly say the same for flying with hungry, tired kids above the wilderness. Just as I had predicted, after about an hour of flying at a low pace, the complaining had started. For once, I was glad Fang stayed silent.

"Even if I thought we should land, there's no good place to stop at," I said for the third time in the past four hours. We'd already stopped by a stream to clean up and devour what was left of the food in Iggy's backpack.

There seemed to be a trend with the universe proving me wrong, right after I say something out loud. So naturally, a semi-isolated town came into view moments later.

Iggy snorted. "You were saying?" I glared at him, even though I knew he couldn't see it. "Ok, change of plans. Let's land and find somewhere to eat and rest for a little bit." Before the last words were even out of my mouth, my flock had broken formation and were swooping down from the air. Even Fang had fled, although I had a good feeling he hadn't left because he was tired or obscenely hungry.

Tucking my wings in, I manage to bypass the rest of the flock. Living up to my title, I lead the way to some surrounding trees before landing not-so-gracefully. Right when I thought I'd land perfectly, my knees buckled and I collapsed. Total, who I happened to be carrying, barked at me and glared. I managed to stand up again before the others landed, of course, but my ankle still hurt like crazy. I brushed the pain away, and did a quick head count. To my confusion, I noticed Gazzy was missing.

"Yo, Gazzy," I said. At first, I heard nothing. To be honest, I may have panicked for half of a second before spotting the eight year old pyromaniac dangling from a tree branch that had gotten tangled in his wings. He whimpered in pain before answering.

"Max?"

"I'm coming!" I flew up to him and inspected the branch. Angel and Nudge were still recovering; turns out they weren't very graceful when they landed either, although they seemed more dazed than injured. Fang looked silently up at me and Gaz, while Iggy seemed a little more frantic.

"What happened? Is he ok?"

"He'll be fine." I turned my attention back to the Gasman. The forked tree branch had tangled with his wings in a way that caused one of his speckled wings to be over a limb of the branch and the other partially under, but still caught. I could tell he was struggling to support himself by the way his back muscles were clenched. I gently lifted one wing off of the branch, causing another whimper, and then slid his other wing away. I helped him to the ground and then handed him off to Nurse Iggy.

After inspecting his wings for however long, Iggy announced that the injuries were not fatal.

I rolled my eyes. "Really?"

Iggy just grinned in my general direction and then continued. "He has some cuts and missing feathers, but besides his wing muscles being sore for a couple of days, he'll be fine." I nodded, ready to move on so that we'd be able to reach the house as quickly as possible.

"Ok guys," I said, "when we're in town, act natural, only talk to people if necessary," I looked at Nudge, "and if anyone asks where we're from, walk away."

With that final note, we tucked our wings inside of our jackets and walked towards the town.

**I could've stopped the chapter here, but this line break persuaded me not to.**

I was used to people staring at me, it was kinda in the mutant job description, but getting stared at when people _can't_ see my wings is just plain annoying.Not that I was the only one they stared at, the whole flock was under the suspicious gaze of every single person we passed. It was more than a little creepy, honestly.

I locked eyes with Fang. Whatever we were going through did not stop our practically telepathic communication when we knew something was wrong.

"Lets just eat something and leave," I said in a low voice that only my flock could hear. Nudge, in her own little world, didn't quite understand.

"Why rush? This little town is _so _cute. I bet they have quaint little boutiques and restaurants that have home-style cooking and maybe they have a little inn we could stay at and me and Angel could share a room and Iggy and Gaz could share-" I kicked her softly in the ankle and with one look at me, she stopped talking. I saw a diner down the street that looked crowded and easy to blend into to. I nodded towards it.

"Lets go there, I'm sure they see different people everyday. We'll be in and out." Iggy looped his finger in my belt loop and I grabbed Angel's hand.

Ever heard of this little town called Argleton? Of course you haven't, because I _swear_ that it is so tiny is shouldn't count as part of the U.S. It's probably not even on Google maps! So tiny that the people there can spot an outsider(or a flock of outsiders) immediately.

We entered the tiny diner called Ellen's in an awkward formation. I was in front, holding Angel's hand and Iggy was slightly behind me, holding on to my belt loop like his life depended on it. Next to Iggy was Gazzy, who was cringing every five seconds(wing injuries are the worst), and behind them was Fang who was glaring at Nudge who continued to talk about something that obviously bothered him. Total was darting in between all of us. Actually, it wasn't all that surprising that the restaurant became completely silent.

Instead of lowering my eyes and muttering something incoherent, I glared back at everyone, daring them to say anything.

"Table for six," I announced loudly to the hostess. She nodded, and then glanced hesitantly at Total.

"I'm sorry, no dogs allowed." she said nervously. She should be, I thought.

"He's a seeing eye dog," I said, motioning to Iggy. When she gave me a doubtful look, I pushed Total with my foot so he stood still next to Ig.

She nodded, finally. "Right this way."

While I thought crowded restaurants were a good thing, it turned out to work against us. Not only did people stare at us, but finding somewhere to sit turned out to be a problem too. I ended up squished in a booth next to Fang with Angel on my lap. Iggy and Gazzy were sitting across from us and Nudge sat in a chair at the end of our table. Total, living up to the seeing-eye-dog claim, sat in Iggy's lap. Slowly, the noise returned to the diner, and the urge to hit my head against the wall repeatedly hit me head-on. Oh, and the waitress didn't help either.

She was extremely pretty, no, _gorgeous _with straight blonde hair and blue eyes. Fang was practically drooling and I'm sure Iggy would be too if he could see her. I really need to save Gazzy while I still can.

"Hi, I'll be your waitress today, can I get you guys anything to drink?" Cue Iggy's drooling; even her voice sounded pretty.

Nudge started talking first. "I'll have an extra large Sprite and a chocolate milkshake." Everyone else said what they were going to have, and I let them order whatever-everything ranging from Mountain Dew's to Shirley Temples. Iggy had to stop Total from ordering. Miss Pretty then looked at me expectantly.

I bit my lip. "I'll have a water." The flock looked at me in surprise. I looked back. The waitress shuffled away and everyone waited for me to say something. "Just felt like something light." I lied, and everyone knew it. Normally, when given the chance, I had two cokes and a coffee, and that was just for the caffeine. They didn't question me though, a perk of being the leader. Fang, however, continued to stare at me, but I shook my head and told him I'd tell him later. He nodded and went back to staring at the wall, probably to daydream about our waitress.

The truth was, the Max Ride card was getting worn out. I wasn't sure how much was on it, but I knew for sure there was no endless supply of gold at the end of _my_ rainbow. Sooner or later we'd be out of cash, and I figured I would rather that be later.

Angel turned around in my lap and looked up at me. "I should've ordered water, too" she whispered.

"No, honey, you shouldn't have. That's why I didn't say anything." She frowned, but turned back around.

Miss Pretty came back with our drinks in no time. I couldn't help but notice she smiled extra wide when she handed Fang his coke. I couldn't help but notice that he smiled back. Wait. Rewind. Fang smiled at some random girl? What the heck?

It really shouldn't have bothered me since Fang and I weren't… anything. The issue with that is, that everything that shouldn't bother me tends to bother me especially.

"Does everyone know what they're going to order?" No, no I don't. I looked over Angel's shoulder at the menu and scanned it quickly. The typical burgers and mac n' cheese. This time, Angel started first.

"I'll have the chicken nugget's," she said. I nudged her shoulder, hard. "And the double cheeseburger and the Kraft macaroni and cheese." That's better. Besides me, Fang was the last to order. Everyone else had ordered the normal three or four meals, depending. Fang looked once more at the menu before ordering.

"I'll have the triple cheese burger and a side of fries with the vegetable of the day," he said. Great, he'd figured out we were tight on money and decided he was going to starve himself. I glare at him.

"Wow, that's a lot of food, are you sure you can eat all of that?" Miss Pretty said, obviously flirting. Was she mental? The six year old girl ordered triple that!

"He'll be fine," I assured her. She started to walk away without getting my order, but I stopped her. "I'll have a side of onion rings and the fish and chips." She nodded and wrote it down. With one last smile directed at guess-who, she walked away. Fang and I stared at each other silently. We both had ordered light for the sake of everyone else, but he was supposed to be part of the everyone else. I was the leader after all, he didn't have any obligation.

"You don't have to do everything yourself, you know." he said defensively, practically reading my thoughts. I looked away. Not ordering tons of food might not seem like a big issue; however, for us, it definitely was.

Our food came after a while, and I realized I was being as quiet as Fang. It was a little hard to eat with Angel on my lap, and if things were normal, Fang might have offered for her to sit on his lap for a while. Obviously, he didn't.

We devoured our food and left quickly. Before we had gotten outside though, Miss Pretty had slipped Fang her phone number. This, you might imagine, made me want to rip her hair off and shove it in a shredder. Why, I have no idea. It wasn't like he had a phone to call her with. And to make matters worse, Nudge started talking _non-stop _as soon as we were outside of the diner.

"That food was _so_ good! I wish I could have a chocolate milkshake everyday for every meal! I hope our new house is near somewhere that sells chocolate milkshakes.. Or we could learn to make our own! But, that would need a blender. Max, does the house have electricity for blenders and lights? It should because how else would we have Christmas lights for the-"

"I'm not sure," I interrupted. She frowned. I sighed. Since when did the flock start to worry about little things like electricity? Then again, since when did I worry about my relationship with Fang?

_When you stopped trying to save the world, Maximum._

**Dun dun duhhhhh… Guess who's here? Ok, so I said I'd mention the people who said what they liked and disliked about the story or suggested something, so here they are: awesomealpha11, , nacho5, the-academy-isn't, and MPHknows. Thanks to everyone for being awesome reviewers! **

**Also: Someone mentioned grammatical errors/spelling and I looked over the last couple of chapters and gosh am I sorry. I really do know correct grammar, but I tend to not go over my fanfic chapters and look for them. SO, should I get a beta, perhaps? **


	6. You HavetoHave a Brain for a Brain Attac

**I'm really getting better about longer chapters! I actually really don't like this chapter. I like parts of it and all, but the overall thing is just meh to me. **

**QUESTION: Should I get a Beta? I'm going to ask until I get a good answer.**

The funny thing about the Voice in my head is that it always shows up when I don't need it, and when I do, it disappears. Oh, and it tends to try to make a strong impression when it does reappear.

Take that moment for instance. I was falling to my doom just seconds after the Voice had decided to join in on my conversation with myself. And because a voice in my head and my body completely shutting down isn't anything to remember, it just _had _to add in the searing pain. It's easy to see why I love it so much, isn't it?

Falling and knowing I'll be able to fly away right before I become the first avian-American pancake is one thing, but falling without the ability to use my wings is more terrifying than an Eraser ambush.

Somewhere in the flurry of pain and the sound of my flock screaming, I vaguely felt a pair of strong tanned arms rope around my waist, securing me in the air. Fang. I really couldn't have a brain attack while flying and survive without him. I would've laughed at the thought of anyone else attempting to save me if, you know, I wasn't practically dying. And even though Fang was _almost_ as strong as I was, I could tell he was struggling to support my weight and fly at the same time.

Fang huffed and dropped lower in the air, but only slightly. "If I ever have one of these brain attacks, you'd better save me." I weakly craned my head around so I could look at him.

"Don't worry, you have to have a brain in order for something to attack it." That earned me one of his rare smiles, and it was like the sun coming out. He must have been really worried about me to smile like _that_ just because of a stupid joke, especially considering the last couple of days. I shifted in his arms a little, regaining my mobility slowly. I could just see the rest of the flock's panicked expressions as they raced towards us. Fang must have thrown Total to Angel pretty quickly when he saw me dropping, because the dog was twitching uncomfortably and looking at Fang murderously(a funny look for a dog). Wiggling so that I was facing the ground again, I panicked for a second(or a few) because it was coming towards Fang and me unsettlingly fast.

"FANG!" He pulled me tighter to his chest and then, at the second I was making my death wish, Fang swooped up back into the air and then floated gracefully back to the grungy gravel. I broke out of his arms and looked at him expectantly.

"You ok?" he asked, trying to conceal a smirk.

I faked a smile. "Just peachy." A wave of nausea hit me and I bent over, gagging. Iggy landed, leading everyone else to the back street of a small town. Fang put his hand lightly on my shoulder and looked at me with concern.

I gave him an embarrassed smile. "You must be so sick of looking at me with concern," I said, referring to my other episodes like this one.

"It is getting stale," he said. "What happened? This time, I mean." I sighed, and the rest of the flock moved in closer to hear me.

"The Voice is back. Again. And turns out a simple hello is too common of a greeting for it."

A loud noise made us all freeze. Nudge looked impatient to get the heck out of wherever we were, while the Gasman seemed more concerned for me. Another noise and Fang looked at me.

"Can you walk?" he asked tersely. I nod, because what else was I going to say? _'No, no I can't. So shut up and carry me.' _I don't think so. I stood up straight and headed out of the alley way, motioning for my flock to follow me. They did, cautiously, and we edged out of the lane and onto the brick road. The area was practically deserted, but a restaurant was open, and so was a tiny theatre. I started hobbling down the sidewalk and Angel skipped over to me and grabbed my hand. She smiled up at me. Iggy placed his hand on my arm lightly, partially so I could guide him, but it seemed comforting too. I smiled a little, but then stopped when I realized that hurt too.

"Max," Fang said. I looked towards him.

"Fang." I mimicked his tone of voice and facial expression(or lack of) almost perfectly, if I do say so myself. He rolled his eyes.

"I think I know where we are."

"Do tell," I said, partially bored. He looked at me with a _how dumb are you _expression before replying.

"Could it be the town we may be living in for a while?" He faked an incredulous expression, which may be the funniest thing I've ever seen. Naturally, I burst out laughing, only to stop abruptly when pain shot through my head. The flock looked at me as if I was going mental(which really wasn't a bad guess at all). I coughed.

"It seems kind of like it," I said, and then continued when Fang rolled his eyes. "OK, yes, this is the area. And the house should be right about-" I did a quick and painful 360. "There." I pointed to our relative left where a hill rested behind some old looking buildings.

"We're going to live in a hill?" Gaz asked. I rolled my eyes.

"The house is behind the hill, smart one," I said. I squinted my eyes at my watch. 8:47. Gazzy's wing injuries had put us behind more than I had thought. "We won't be able to do much exploring in it, but it'll be good to sleep with a roof over our heads for once." They nodded in agreement, eager to see it at last(well, except for Iggy). I started walking across the street and they followed. To be honest, I was a little nervous about the house in general. I still had a bad feeling about it being a trap, but I tried to push that thought away. I maneuvered through the practically connecting buildings, although not so gracefully. We eventually reached the hill and Nudge and Angel fluttered up the grassy hill with Gazzy and Total running behind them. Iggy was glued to Fang's belt loop and we walked towards the younger kids. Having long legs comes in handy, and in no time I was behind Nudge and Angel. They gasped when they saw the house.

"OMG! That is like the best house I've ever seen! It looks exactly like Anne of Green Gable's house! Remember when we saw that movie? It was so amazing! And I bet it has rooms for all of us! So we can have our own rooms and maybe our own bathrooms and we can get some paint and new furniture. Well, we never really had furniture in the first place. Well, we did, but it was more of Jeb's-" I slapped my hand over her mouth.

"Way to ruin a moment," I muttered. I could see how she was excited though. The house was bigger than the E-house, and while the white with green shudders exterior looked silly to me, I could see how she would love it. Angel had a similar reaction, except without all of the talking.

"Can we go inside, Max?" she asked sweetly.

"Yeah." I bit my lip. "But stay here for a little while longer, ok? I have to check on something." Lowering my voice, I muttered to Fang and Nudge. "Nudge your in charge and Fang, you'll help me." Nudge looked at me like I had just given her a car and nodded eagerly. Iggy looked at me with a faked hurt face. "Don't think I forgot last time. Come on, Fang." Fang shrugged and followed me reluctantly. I ran down the grassy slope, careful not to fall. I stopped in front of the huge house. Fang looked at me expectantly from my right.

"I know you think this house is perfectly safe, but for the sake of my paranoia, let's do a quick check." Fang looked at me for a moment and then nodded.

"Only to prove I'm right," he muttered, mostly to himself.

"I'll pretend I didn't hear that. You go in from the back entrance and I'll come in from the front. We'll do a quick scan and then head up the stairs together." He nodded and started jogging around the house. I took out one of Nudge's hair pins and started picking the lock. I wasn't as good as Iggy, put I managed to get in the house in just over six minutes.

I looked inside suspiciously and then walked in quietly. It was dark inside and I could barely make out the walls. I bumped into something sloped and fell on it.

"Found the stairs," I mumbled. I stood up again and walked into a hall way connected to the room I was in. Suddenly, I heard a quiet noise, too quiet for any normal human to hear. Luckily, I didn't fit in the normal category, or even human for that matter. I edged closer to where I had heard the sound and saw a dark form almost immediately. At first, I thought it was Fang. Then I realized Fang was taller than whoever was in front of me. The person(or creature) moved slightly towards me, but I doubted it had seen me. Still, I did the only logical thing a paranoid bird kid would.

The issue with attacking someone without knowing who they are, or even what species they were is that its difficult to know what fighting technique to use. I used a basic form that worked on everything I'd fought from the school up until now. This creature, however, was a lot harder than anything before. Soon, I was pinned to the ground with the things face centimeters away from mine. All I could think was how much I wanted Fang to pop out and save me.

"Max?" I heard from the creature. I looked at it and blushed slightly. It _was_ Fang. And now that I was sure I wouldn't be killed, I noticed how very awkward our position was.

"Fang? Care to get off of me?" I'd bet the Max card he was blushing. He jumped off of me and I slowly stood.

"Sorry," he said. "Instincts tend to kick in when I get jumped."

"I didn't realize it was you," I mumbled.

He snorted. "To think you know a person.. And you didn't recognize my fighting technique?"

I argued, "You didn't recognize mine!"

"Flailing doesn't count as a fighting technique, Max." I shot him the bird. He was shorter than me by half an inch, something that hasn't happened since we were eleven.

"Why are you all of a sudden shorter than me?"

He grunted in.. pain? "I'm not," he huffed. "I tripped over a loose brick on the way in." I snickered and he glared at me.

"Let's go check the upstairs out and then get the rest of the flock." I checked my watch again. 9:12. "It's already late." I turned around, not waiting for his acknowledgement and walked up the stairs. We did a quick check of all the rooms and then jogged back to the others.

We led them to the house. Nudge and Angel were gasping about every little thing, even though they were barely visible with the dim light from our flashlights.

"We should all sleep in the living room for tonight. It has a pull-out couch and it'll make watches easier." I walked into the half-oval shaped room and pulled out the couch. Gazzy walked up behind me and everyone else set down their backpacks and started putting out their few mismatched blankets.

"The girls can have the bed," he said to me and the rest of the flock. "Fang and Iggy and I can sleep on the floor."

"Excuse me, sexist piglet," I said, raising my eye-brows. "How about the two smallest people share the bed 'cause they'll fit. That would be you and Angel." He nodded and climbed into the bed.

"I'll take first shift, Fang will take second, and Iggy, you take third," I said. We stacked fists and everyone turned their flashlights off, leaving me in darkness.

"Good night," I whispered, "Don't let the Erasers bite."

**I really hate this ending. A lot. **

**Next chapter will be more intense and drama filled and Max will blow up. And then Faxness will follow. That is, **_**IF**_** I get a good amount of reviews. Tell me you hate it. I don't care. Last chapter only got four reviews. I'm not sure if people stopped reading it or what. Anyways! **

**Review and I will make next chapter an amazing one!**

**P.S I re-read the first 2 MR books, and turns out on a couple occasions Fang burst out laughing. And he smiled more than most fanfic authors give him credit for. So I hope I made him not too OOC. Or Max either. **


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